Creating a Perfect World (An Art of Non-Conformity Exercise)

In Chris Guillebeau's book, The Art of Non-Conformity, Chris talks about the beginnings of setting goals for you unconventional lifestyle. A combination of two exercises - the perfect day, and the list of goals- are a way to help you define what you value in life.

• Create the perfect day. Cover everything, from the time you wake up to when you go to bed, what you eat, who you talk to you, etc.

Today, I share with you my perfect day, and if time allows, my goals. They keep changing, but there's nothing wrong with that. It helps me re-evaluate what I want out of my life. 

And with that, I bring you my perfect day:

I awake naturally, around 8, 8:30. Rolling over, I snuggle with my wife before I let the pets out for the morning. We kiss, curl back up in bed for a while, then go off for our workouts. Maybe a jog, maybe T'ai Chi, or yoga, depending on the day.

Then breakfast!  Perhaps by now it is 9, 9:30. Something non-traditional; salad from the garden, with tuna steaks, a home made vinaigrette, perhaps with fruit, or if not, a glass of juice and a glass of water.

Shower immediately after. The bathroom is bathed in natural sunlight. Maybe at this point it's around ten. I do my post-shower rituals (brushing hair, teeth, etc), then meditate. I load the dishwasher, my wife feeds the pets.

Then I go lock myself in my office and work for a couple of hours before my wife brings me some tea. As she leaves, she cracks the door a little to let the pets in to snuggle with me if they want. I'm drawing, or writing; maybe researching for something. Hell, I'm probably doing all of these things. 

Around lunch, maybe 1 to 2-ish, I emerge from my cave to find something ethnically specific on the table: Indian, Japanese, Afghani food, which had been prepared in advance, frozen, and brought out and heated for today's lunch. More water with lunch, then the dogs go for a walk and I get the mail. I call up some friends and invite them to dinner. Perhaps it's my best friend Tori and (by this time) her husband Obi, or perhaps some of my friends from the Society for Creative Anachronism.

Go back to work around 3-ish, do more drawing, writing, research, whatever. Although some kind of video lecture would sound like fun too. 

Around five or so I call it quits for the day, do some cleaning, start dinner. Eggplant casserole served on fresh greens, steaks seasoned with pepper and mushroom sauce, served with wine. Although my treat, someone brings delicious sweets for desserts as a surprise. We'd discuss philosophical questions, talk about our lives. My SCA family would also discuss events and SCA gossip, plans, and arranging rides to the next event. 

After dinner, maybe a movie.
Or maybe we go to a play or a concert. My friends, my wife and I all discuss the event the whole way home.

When I'm home, it's bed time, complete with snuggles, maybe with the pets. My wife and I get out of bed late in the evening just to watch the stars, only to head back to bed and fall asleep curled up in each others' arms. 

What does this say about my values? More than you would think. I value my friends highly, and the arts. I desire a slightly different diet than I have now, and a way to work from home and do what I love. I love balance. To have fun, be productive, and be happy. Who doesn't want that? 

The Dreaded 1-5 Year and Lifetime Goals

Chris has these, too. But in combination with the Ideal Day, you should soon have a good idea about what I want out of life. 

1-Year Goals

• Save up money for Pennsic (Done)
• Fight War on Debt (Changed from "Save up for Grad School Tour")
• Write a fairy tale and illustrate it
• Go through Peace Corps Application Process
• Fix relationship with my mom

5-Year Goals

• Travel to India
• Lose about 20lbs and cultivate the habits to keep it off
• Be self-employed (Doing what??)
• Be married? (Giant question mark. It would be nice. Going steady with someone would be just as good)

Lifetime Goals

• Live happy, live well
• Change someone's life
• Learn to play an instrument
• Travel, travel, travel
• Come out to the rest of the family
• Write a book (even if I never publish it)
• Meet the Dalai Lama
• Build an Earthship
• Get married (eventually!)
• Have kids (Giant, flaming question mark)
• Teach
• Never stop learning
• Visit every SCA Kingdom

I've learned a lot from these. But what about you? What's your ideal day like? What are your goals? What do you think my goals and my ideal day say about me? And what do you think yours say about you?